Into the Soul
by Ethidium
Summary: Sometimes teens don't understand adults' course of actions & thoughts. Boruto, now sixteen, gets a chance to see why his doubt over his parent's love is groundless. Because when his mother was hurt, his father chose to burn the world.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

 **A/N : hello, this is my very first fanfic after being a silent reader for years... critics are welcomed :)**

 **Also probably some facts are not aligned with the original manga/anime. Please excuse me for that. I'm too lazy to check :p**

 **Anyway, please enjoy.**

 **Edit: special thanks for solvdrage for pointing out the errors :D**

* * *

When Boruto was sixteen, he started to wonder if his parents really love each other. All his parent's friends were convinced that yes, the power couple were deeply in love. All his friends, despite not knowing much, were also convinced that his parents were in love.

His dear sister Himawari was extremely offended when he asked her about this issue, saying that 'Onii-chan is a dense idiot!'

That statement irked him to some extent. He admitted that he could be dense sometimes (and he blamed his father for it), but he was sure as hell not an idiot. But it was Himawari who said that, and the sweet girl was upset, so he let it slide.

He also asked Sarada about his dilemma, and the beautiful kunoichi looked at him like he grew a second head.

"Yeah, I mean… I know Kaa-chan loves Tou-chan dearly. She has this special smile when he is around. But Tou-chan? He does not do anything special, y'know. I tried to sneak on them for the longest time. Never once I caught them cuddling or doing those nasty stuff lovers did."

A tick mark appeared on Sarada's head. This boy in front of her must be insane. First, he tried to sneak on the Hokage and the Byakugan no Hime. Secondly, he wished to see his parents making out?

"Are you crazy?!" she asked hotly. "Do you remember the incident during the Chuunin exam? Your mother chased after your father; she was injured because of it. Stop spouting nonsense. Himawari was right; you _are_ a dense idiot!"

If Sarada said it, then he begged to differ. The 'friendly training' turned into a heated match, accompanied by hellish spat.

But Himawari was right. And so was Sarada, although he did not want to admit it. He was an idiot.

A new threat has arisen from Kirigakure. A band of homeless ninjas was spotted near the village. The group consisted of numerous low level ninjas with several leaders who made it into the bingo books. The group ransacked civilian villages around the hidden village within two days, and then moved out with haste.

A warning had been issued by the Mizukage, as the group seemed to travel in the direction to Suna. However, he asked every hidden village to remain on high alert.

Surprisingly, the crisis stroke when the dear wife of the seventh Hokage made a visit to the Hyuuga's branch family compound near the civilian village. It was only two hours travel with civilian pace, so the Hinata did not think much about security issue.

If the group only targeted fully civilian villages, they should not disturb the nearby village as a Hyuuga branch family compound stood not more than thirty minutes travel away.

Well, apparently she was wrong.

The whole band of thieves now surrounded the compound, looking ready to strike. The leader, a man not later than thirty with expensive-looking attire, stood in front of the gate.

"Hand over all your valuables, Hyuuga! Or we will destroy your house!"

The compound's head, an older male with typical Hyuuga traits named Hizuki, stood in front of Hinata, shielding the clan's princess from the abomination. The lady was wearing her formal kimono for a formal meeting, so it was impossible for her to join the fight immediately.

"Hinata-sama, please go inside and prepare to flee. Our scouts have asked for help from Konoha," Hizuki informed.

"I will go inside and change into something more suitable for battle," Hinata said with finality, earning a bow from some of the female attendants. "Please lead the way."

"Hizuki-sama, those missing nins have explosive tags and grenades," informed the guard. His byakugan blazing, prepared for the worse.

"Defend the house at any cost. We must not let Hinata-sama get hurt."

"Hai," the guard answered. "Uh, Hizuki-sama, several ninjas with higher amount of chakra are wearing some weird contraptions on their wrists."

That stopped Hinata from moving into the building. She immediately activated her byakugan to confirm her bad premonition. And it was right. The ninjas wore the same device Boruto used on the Chuunin exams.

"Do not engage carelessly!" Hinata ordered firmly. "That device can formulate any ninjutsu without any chakra usage from its user. We have no information on what kind of jutsus have been sealed and loaded into the device. Remain on high alert."

"Stop talking and start moving!" the leader howled from across the gate. "Oh, I see, isn't that the princess? Well in that case we have a bigger fish to catch, boys! Charge!"

As the command went, dozens of explosive tags rained onto the compound.

"Go, Hinata-sama. We will handle this in the meantime," said Hizuki as he kept track of every explosive tag that was deflected by the Hyuuga guards.

Hinata nodded and rushed inside the house, followed by the attendants. She had a bad feeling about this battle. Why did a group of thieves suddenly have the courage to battle a legit ninja clan? Not to mention the reemergence of those petty devices, Kote the Kagaku Ningu.

* * *

Team Konohamaru, minus the Jonin-sensei himself, was still chilling at the training ground. Despite being Chuunins, they mostly still stick together when doing missions. It was their third off-day before their next mission.

Suddenly, two figures materialized after a swirl of leaves right in the middle of the training ground. Their entry earned three confused looks from the Chuunins.

"Mom? Sensei?" Sarada asked as she drew closer. Boruto and Mitsuki followed closely behind her.

"Team Konohamaru has just received an order from the Hokage," said Konohamaru in such a serious tone. The three Chuunins simultaneously perked up. "We are to leave immediately into the Hyuuga Branch Family compound nearby. The compound was attacked by a band of ninja-thieves. Prepare to leave in ten minutes. We meet at the gate."

Boruto felt like his heart has been stabbed. Color drained from his face instantly.

"Sensei, is Kaa-chan…" His mouth dried out.

"Sasuke and Naruto already left," Sakura said readily. "We need to move now."

Boruto nodded without any fervor. The two adults then left, a trail of leaves swirling after them.

Sarada patted her beloved teammate's shoulder. "It will be alright. Let's go save your mom," she told him, smiling.

Feeling slightly better, he gave her a thankful smile, nodded, and also left in a trail of leaves.

* * *

When Boruto and the backup party arrived, the once luxurious building already looked like a haunted house. Sarada could not help but gasped at the horrid sight. Bodies of ninjas laid flat on the ground, scattered all over the field. Red fiery chakras misted through the air, creating a thin blood red fog.

There, in the middle of the chaos, Boruto could spot his father's back. He hunched down to the ground, his white cape draped around him as if the stormy wind which enveloped the area did not exist.

And a few meters in front of his father, a tall creature stood its ground, surrounded by a handful of unknown ninjas. It looked as if it was defending his father while unleashing hell on earth. Despite the eerily calm wind surrounding the Hokage, both his father and the creature wreaked havoc in the enemy line. Whenever ninjas tried to attack the blood red fox, the fox swatted them away with its fang or humongous tails. When the attack came from a distance, it spewed fireballs larger than cannon balls.

"Sakura."

"Anata," Sakura answered, a little relieved. "Is that…?"

"The Hyuugas have steered clear from the field. There is a small warehouse east from here. The injured are gathered there. Sarada, go with your mother."

Sakura and Sarada both nodded.

"Konohamaru, you and Mitsuki assist the rest of the Hyuugas. They are capturing the thieves who ran away. Steer clear from the red fog. Do not approach the Hokage until the fog disappear," Sasuke ordered.

The party quickly broke apart to do what was assigned to them.

"Sasuke-sensei, where is Kaa-chan?" Boruto could not stop himself from asking. It was only him and his sensei now. He had to ask.

Thinking that his mother was trapped inside this madness made his stomach churn. Not to mention seeing his father's state, he felt like he also lost his father.

"I need your help for that," Sasuke replied curtly, eyeing the unmoving back of Naruto.

"What should I do?" Boruto tried to keep his voice from sounding desperate, but he failed miserably.

"We need to get to your father. I need you to wake him up."

Moving ever so slowly, the master and student pair approached the center of the field cautiously. Despite being shielded by Susanoo, Boruto could still sense the ominous tension brought by the fiendish red chakra. A part of him could not believe that the one who created this utter destruction was none other than his protective father.

As they drew closer, he could see his father more clearly. He could only make out a silhouette of something, or rather, someone, held tight by his Tou-chan. From Boruto's stand point, only a portion of the person held by Naruto could be seen.

Indigo hair.

 _Step._

Moon patterned kimono.

A wave of dread grew from the pit of his stomach. Boruto knew that most Hyuuga had the same trait as his beloved mother. But how many had that moon patterned kimono?

 _Step._

Golden sunflower hairpin.

Boruto suddenly lost all his strength. The lady was holding the golden sunflower hairpin.

He recognized it. Himawari picked it. He bought it. The two siblings gave it as a birthday gift to their blushing mother, in front of their father who took a picture of the special occasion.

"Kaa-chan!" He wailed. "Tou-chan!"

That earned a reaction from the Hokage. Naruto jerked and turned his head slowly, his face full of dread. However his eyes still fervently red, as if he would burn everything he sees. He saw, but he did not really see.

"Sasuke…" Naruto rasped. "Hinata… What should I do?"

Never before Boruto heard the Hokage's voice so full of desperation and so lost.

"Naruto, stop this." Sasuke said sternly.

"I heard Boruto," Naruto replied, unfocussed. "I can't see him."

"Tou-chan! I am here!"

"Boruto?"

The sinister tension dropped slightly.

"Yes Tou-chan. Please save Kaa-chan!"

Naruto's face twisted. "There is no medic…"

"Sakura is waiting in the warehouse east from here. But you need to regain control, Naruto," Sasuke said straightaway. "You can save her."

The once dead eyes turned bright again. As Naruto lifted his dear wife, the fog thinned before completely disappeared. The once red blood fox looked not as demonic as before.

Boruto could now see the prized Kyuubi who resided inside his father's belly. Although it still looked pissed off and wrathful, the fox seems more… _civil_.

"Sasuke, Kurama, I'll leave it to you," he said firmly. "Boruto, let's save Kaa-chan."

* * *

Hinata was now stable, although Sakura still monitored her vital sign. The medic nin decreed that moving her now would be too dangerous, as her two stab wounds were a little too close to her kidney and heart. If the wounds reopened and bled during transport, it might cause complications.

Konohamaru, Mitsuki, Hizuki, several Hyuuga Jonins and Chuunins had already head back to Konoha. They brought along at least a dozen of thief ninjas to be questioned and detained.

Sarada, Boruto, Naruto, and Sasuke were sitting outside the warehouse, preparing for their short travel. Sakura kicked out the father-son duo because the warehouse got too cramped with the amount of injured people.

"Naruto, about before…"

"I know. Sorry Sasuke."

"Did you purposely not control the Kyuubi?"

"No, it's not like that."

Sarada perked up at that. "Hokage-sama, did you lose control of the Kyuubi?"

Naruto smiled bitterly. "No, it was worse, Sarada."

"What do you mean, Tou-chan?" Boruto asked, confused.

Sighing, Naruto answered his son. "When I arrived and saw Hinata was stabbed – twice… Inside my mind, Kurama was ready to unleash his wrath. And I… Not only I let go of his chain, but I also opened the door for him."

"At that time I only thought the worst," Naruto said, his voice broken.

"How dare you hurt Hinata.

I'll kill you.

I'll destroy you.

I'll shred you to pieces.

 _I'll make the world burn."_

Naruto voiced it full of rage and raw anger. Never in his life Boruto feared his own father. But today he did.

"Those were my thoughts, I'm not proud of it now. But when it happened… I can't think, I can't breathe… It hurts, and I don't know what to do. And mostly, I am afraid," Naruto said again, his voice trembled. "I am not ready to lose her just like that."

"Hinata is strong." A new voice cut the conversation short. Under the door frame, Sakura poked her head outside.

"And I need you to move her to the stretcher. We can go back to Konoha and she will be better in no time."

After the adults left, only Sarada and Boruto were left in front of the old warehouse.

"I was right," Sarada said as she unpacked several empty medicine bottles from her backpack.

Boruto scrunched his nose. "About what?"

A smirk formed on Sarada's lips. "Your father. He deeply loves your mother."

"Well yeah…" he said lamely. "I am still shocked about that fact. I used to be so angry at dad because I thought he only took advantage of mom's love. But after this…"

The kunoichi sighed. "I was right again."

"About _what_?"

"Boruto, you are a dense idiot!"


End file.
